The Devil's Company: A Novel (2009) (edit title/settings)

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Benjamin Weaver: ex-boxer, ruffian for hire
• Mrs. Ellershaw: Add a description of this character.
• Jerome Cobb: rich merchant
• Mr. Thurmond
• Mr. Franco
• Mr. Hammond
• Edgar: Mr. Cobb's servant
• Tobias Hammond: Mr. Cobb's nephew
• Elias Gordon: friend and collaborator of Benjamin
• Devout Hale: silk weaver
• Mrs. Pepper
• Celia Glade: Servant at East India Company
• Aadil
• Madam
• Luke
• Ambrose Ellershaw: Director of East India Company
• Celia
• Miriam
• Mr. Teaser
• Kingsley
• Ingram
• Mr. Baghat
• Annie
• Mr. Westerly
• Aadil Wajid Ali Baghat: Craven House supervisor
• Absalom Pepper: inventor
• Mr. Forester
• Carmichael: guard at Craven House
• Mr. Blackburn: acountant at Cravan House
• Samuel Thurmond
• Teaser: associate of Pepper
• Mother Clap

Quotes edit see section history

• “"They are all foul. We're all of us foul, each of us in our own way. We excuse it in ourselves, and perhaps in those we love, but we delight to condemn it in others."”

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• The body, it seems to me, is a thing without life. The commemoration should be of the ineffable thing that has passed, not the material thing that remains, and such showy ostentation is a product of earthly vanity, not the hope of heavenly reward.

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• Politics cannot always be about what is moral and right and good for all men and for all time. It must be about what is expedient now, and what is the lesser evil.”

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• We’re all of us foul, each of us in our own way. We excuse it in ourselves, and perhaps in those we love, but we delight to condemn it in others.”

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• “It is but a temporary victory,” he said. Ellershaw smiled. “My dear sir, I am a man of business, and I have spent my entire life with the knowledge that there is no other kind.”

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• We are all of us Adam’s children, the saying goes, but silk makes the difference.

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• “Those who speak the truth must face the brickbats of resentment.”

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• Ellershaw once said that government is not the solution to the problems of business, it is the problem of business. In that he was wrong. The company is a monster, and it is for Parliament to decide the size and shape of its cage.

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• “Mr. Weaver, over there you see my nephew, Mr. Tobias Hammond, a dedicated servant of his majesty at the Customs House.”

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• “How can it be diabolical when it is the law?” he asked. And, indeed, his question contained such oceans of absurdity that I had no answer for him.

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• “I believed the nature of a company was making money regardless of the consequences.” “Nonsense. The word derives from the Latin, com panis, signifying the act of baking bread together. That is what we do. We are not individual men seeking our own fortune; rather we are a collective, baking our bread in union.”

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Mr. Cobb
• East India Company
• Craven House: Headquarters of East India Company in London.
• London
• Indies
• France
• St. Giles
• Fleet: Prison for debtors

Organizations edit see section history

• East India Company: Add a description of this organization.
• The Court of Proprietors

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by A Spectacle of Corruption.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. David Liss (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery